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Week 49. Historical Events. Describe a memorable national historical event from your childhood. How old were you and how did you process this event? How did it affect your family?

Over the years there are many events that have that will be remembered, but here I want to share 2 of them.

First the Assassination of John F. Kennedy. I was sophmore in high on that day. For some reason I had been out of the classroom, when I returned the class was very quiet, and over the intercom I heard the radio. I then heard that President Kennedy had been shot. We sat in stunned silence for the remainder of that class, and just as the bell rang, it was announced that the President is dead.

The rest of the day is a blank, and we did have school the next day. School was dismissed the day of the funeral, I remember watching the funeral on TV that day. This is was major historical event in my memory.

I also remember where I was when I heard about the Challenger explosion, the shooting of Bobby Kennedy, and various other events.

In more recent days, September 11, 2001 along with the days that follow, is one of memory, and not just for the events in the New York and Washington, D.C. , but for events that affected my personal life.

That day started as many others, I was at work in the library at our Middle School. My friend and pastor called to tell me to watch the TV, to see what was happening in New York. I switched on the TV, and quickly realized that this was something to bring to the attention of my administration. Because of state meetings most of the adminstration were in Topeka. It happened the administrator in charge was in our building and I shared this with her. We became aware that we were in a National Crisis, but we also had our own local crisis to deal with as well. That day we informed that there was a prison escape, and our building was put under lock down, to be sure he did not come to the school.

That day was spent trying to keep an eye on the news, keep students calm, and as normal as possible. I was also helping to plan and prepare for a community prayer service that evening.

At the end of that school day, as I am leaving the building I was overwhelmed with the feeling that as I walked through the doors of the building my world was completely changed. It was the same feeling I had when I was leaving the hospital after my husband’s death. I was in a safe haven and what was outside those doors would never be the same. I had to move forward as I could not stay in one place forever.

That evening the community service was held. The next morning I went out to get my car to drive to work and I had no car. As I looked in the garage, I thought “Did I walk home last night, leaving my car at the church?” It took a few minutes to comprehend that my car had been stolen. I called work and told them I would be delayed, as I was waiting for the police to report my stolen car. My car had been stolen by the escaped prisoner. My experiences dealing with this are another story.

Not only had the World changed at a National Level, but it also changed for me at a personal level.